No More Chemo

The past couple of weeks have seen a series of happy milestones in Celia's long Leukaemia journey. On June 4th we had her last hospital treatment - one final dose of chemo through her port. The final one was just as traumatic as all the other recent ones - Celia really panics as soon as she sees the needles come out and Lydia has to calm her down as usual.


Laughing gas keeps me calm for final intravenus chemotheropy

Once the final treatment was over it was celebration time. Another cancer charity - Koala Kids - provides a giant chocolate 'Smash Cake' full of sweets, together with a hammer to allow children finishing treatment to smash their cancer once and for all. We went for a lovely family pizza celebration in McKinnon before smashing our cake at home for supper.

Leaving the Childrens Cancer Centre after final treatment (with celebratory Chocolate Smash Cake)

The last hospital visit was not quite the end of the drugs however. There was the small matter of five final days of steriods and oral chemotheropy at home. These steriods seemed to impact her as much as any dose in quite a few months, with the tiredness, grumpiness, teariness and agression seeming to be just that little bit more accentuated than in recent months. Still, with only 5 days to go, we could just about have handled anything for those final few days. To take our mind off the steriods we headed to the hills for a day trip to the Dandenongs where the temperature was so freezing it was a good opportunity to give our ski-wear a first outing of the year. Max and Mabel were very excited to check if Percy the Possum was still living at Sky High.

A winter Sunday outing to the Dandenongs

 

The final final chemo was on Tuesday 9th June 2015. As Lydia posted on Facebook - 2 years, 2 months and 10 days of Leukaemia treatment was finally over. Deep breath. Huge sigh of relief. Lots of hugs and smiles all round. Maybe, just maybe, the second half of 2015 will be our happiest, funniest and most relaxed period for a very long time...let the holidays, travelling and future life planning begin.



Last day of chemo

Group hug - no more chemo!

You made it Celia. We are so proud of you!